Trump signs order to remove grey wolf protection

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at removing endangered species protections for the grey wolf and its subspecies, the Mexican wolf. This decision comes as the administration seeks to lower record-high domestic beef prices driven by persistent drought conditions and parasite outbreaks within American cattle stocks.

However, conservation organizations have sharply criticized the move, arguing that it could derail decades of long-term efforts to recover endangered wolf populations in the wild. Figures from the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) show there were 319 Mexican wolves in the wild in the US in 2025, a significant recovery from just four individuals when they were reintroduced back in 1998. Meanwhile, approximately 18,000 grey wolves currently roam across the United States, though they remain classified as endangered because human activity has destroyed the vast majority of their natural habitat.

Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event

The executive order does not immediately grant ranchers a direct license to shoot wolves that prey on livestock. Instead, it directs Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to evaluate within 90 days whether both the grey wolf and Mexican wolf populations have sufficiently recovered to warrant being removed entirely from the endangered species list. Highlighting that US livestock herds are at a 75-year low while consumer beef demand has increased by 10% over the past decade, the order emphasized that additional support must be provided to the critical cattle industry.